Sara Bates recaps the episode 7 for season 9!

Food Network Star – Season 9, Episode 7

Welcome to episode seven!  When the show opened, we saw Bobby Flay in the kitchen cooking and tasting a dish.  The remaining six finalists were in the car on the way to the studio.

When the finalists entered the studio, Bobby announced that they needed to be able to talk about food and describe it in an inventive way.  For the Star Challenge, the finalists needed to use unusual ingredients to make dishes that were auctioned off to a group of adventurous eaters.  Whoever earned the highest bid was safe!

First though, we had the Mentors Challenge.  Each finalist tasted the dish Bobby was making and had 60 seconds to describe it without using the usual buzz words like incredible, delicious and sexy.  The winner of the challenge had an advantage in the Star Challenge.

Rodney came out and stumbled over his words.  Bobby called it a disaster.  Nikki said the word delicious once, but other than that she described the dish well.  Chad was searching for words and stuttered.  Bobby said it was a long minute.

Stacey did great, as usual, and told a personal story along with her description of the dish.  She was the only finalists who told a story.  Damaris basically bombed and Bobby said he expected more from her.  Russell did not do well with his description and Bobby said he was disappointed.

Overall, Stacey and Nikki did the best but in the end Stacey was declared the winner.  She was the one to have the advantage.

For the Star Challenge the finalists had sixty minutes to make a dish that delivered their culinary message. They also needed to convince the focus group why they should be on the Food Network.  Each finalist had one minute to describe their dish to the group.  Then Alton conducted the auction and the focus group bid on each dish.  The dish receiving the highest bid was safe from elimination.  In addition, all proceeds from this auction went to benefit Share Our Strength.

Since Stacey was the winner of the Mentors Challenge, her advantage was receiving an extra $10 added to her dish’s bid right off the bat.  Stacey decided to make a maple bacon cheesecake.  She did well on her presentation, but Giada said she needed more spontaneity.  The dish overall was good and everyone loved the crust.

Rodney made a berry and rhubarb pie, and along with it did a very silly presentation to the focus group.  He focused little on his dish and Bobby said his presentation made no sense.  Overall though, the pie was the mentors’ favorite dish.

Nikki made a mushroom and shrimp pasta and did amazing with her presentation.  Alton said she nailed it and her dish was exceptional.  Damaris made a grown up style green bean casserole.  Bobby thought she sold her dish well.

Chad put together a Texas barbeque poutine.  He did not connect with the group and overall didn’t do well. The potatoes in his dish were nothing special and lacked flavor.  Giada said they need him to go to the next level.  Russell made an egg and bacon revolution, which was his version of a bacon and egg sandwich.  There were lots of pauses in his presentation and Alton said it made them confused about his point of view.

In the end, Stacey raised the most money with her dish going for $190, including the $10 she received for winning the previous challenge.  Even without the $10 she would have won as the closest finalists raised just $150.  Stacey was safe.

The mentors felt that Nikki had the best presentation and declare that she was safe.  Since Damaris improved so much this week they kept her as well.  Lastly, Rodney was safe because his pie was so great.

This left Chad and Russell as the bottom two.  The mentors felt that Chad was not progressing and Russell was inconsistent.  Who do you think should have gone home?  My vote was to send Russell home.  I also felt that he was too inconsistent in the competition.  He stuttered and didn’t make sense a lot of the time.

In the end, the mentors did not agree with me!  Russell moved on and Chad went home.  Do you think they made the right decision?

Next week one of the finalists will return to the competition.  During the challenge, the finalists will be split into two teams to film a food story show.  I can’t wait to see who will return!  See you all next week!